1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mechanisms for extracting water from a web of material, and more particularly from a fibrous web being processed into a paper product on a papermaking machine. Specifically, the present invention is an impermeable belt designed for use in conjunction with an long nip press on a papermaking machine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
During the papermaking process, a fibrous web is formed on a forming wire by depositing a fibrous slurry thereon. A large amount of water is drained from the slurry during this process, after which the newly formed web proceeds to a press section. The press section includes a series of press nips, in which the fibrous we is subjected to compressive forces designed to remove water therefrom. The web finally proceeds to a drying section which includes heated dryer drums around which the web is directed. The heated dryer drums reduce the water content of the web to a desirable level through evaporation.
Rising energy costs have made it increasingly desirable to remove as much water as possible from the web prior to its entering the dryer section. The dryer drums are often heated from within by steam and related costs can be substantial, especially when a large amount of water needs to be removed from the web.
Traditionally, press sections have included a series of nips formed by pairs of adjacent cylindrical press rollers. Recently, the use of long press nips has been found to be advantageous over the use of nips formed by pairs of adjacent rollers. The longer the web can be subjected to pressure in the nip, the more water can be removed there, and, consequently, the less will remain to be removed through evaporation in the dryer section.
The present invention relates to long nip presses of the shoe type. In this variety of long nip press, the nip is formed between a cylindrical press roller and an arcuate pressure shoe. The latter has a cylindrically concave surface having a radius of curvature close to that of the cylindrical press roller. When roller and shoe are brought into close physical proximity, a nip is formed which can be five to ten times longer in the machine direction than one formed between two press rollers. This increases the so-called dwell time of the fibrous web in the long nip while maintaining the same level of pressure per square inch pressing force used in a two-roller press. The result of this new long nip technology has been a dramatic increase in dewatering of the fibrous web in the long nip when compared to conventional nips on paper machines.
A long nip press of the shoe type requires a special belt, such as that shown in Canadian Patent No. 1,188,556. This belt is designed to protect the press fabric supporting, carrying, and dewatering the fibrous web from the accelerated wear that would result from direct, sliding contact over the stationary pressure shoe. Such a belt must be made with a smooth impervious surface that rides, or slides over the stationary shoe on a lubricating film of oil. The belt moves through the nip at roughly the same speed as the press fabric, thereby subjecting the press fabric to minimal amounts of rubbing against stationary components.
Belts of the variety shown in Canadian Patent No. 1,188,556 are made by impregnating a woven base fabric, which takes the form of an endless loop, with a synthetic polymeric resin. Preferably, the resin forms a coating of some predetermined thickness on the inner surface of the belt, so that the yarns from which the base fabric is woven may be protected from direct contact with the arcuate pressure shoe component of the long nip press. It is specifically this coating which must have a smooth, impervious surface to slide readily over the lubricated shoe and to prevent any of the lubricating oil from penetrating the structure of the belt to contaminate the press fabric, or fabrics, and fibrous web.
In practice, during the operation of the long nip press, the coating is subjected to considerable mechanical stress. As the belt takes the form of an endless loop, it is directed through the long press nip by several rollers, each of which serve to flex the belt, thereby subjecting the coating to a repeated stress that may ultimately lead to cracking. At the same time, contact with foreign objects may damage the coating during the normal operation of the belt on the papermachine.
The present invention provides a solution to these problems in the form of a surface reinforcement for the coated surfaces of long nip press belts.